Odell Beckham Jr. has a complicated relationship with the Cleveland Browns and their fans. There are almost no wide receivers who have had 1,000-yard seasons for the franchise are remembered unfavorably — just ask Josh Gordon and Terrelle Pryor. This fanbase is about as battle-tested as it gets. As long as a player never crosses that line, fans will proudly champion anyone who has put on for the city, even if they weren't able to win many games.
Beckham's arrival in 2019 was met with almost parade-like fanfare. The season cratered in typical Browns fashion because, well, Freddie Kitchens. 2020 was different, though. The Browns were winning. With a 4–2 record, in a game that would ultimately take them to 5–2, Beckham tore his ACL. All that did was add a few months to a ticking time bomb.
He had been enjoying a career-worst season to that point, and the moping and frustration was evident when his teammates would score instead of him. Despite a season that included a playoff victory and a down-to-the-wire defeat on the doorstep of the AFC Championship, popcorn was out for Beckham and the Browns in 2021.
The consummate diva — he delivered. There was the video his father posted that trashed the team's QB, Baker Mayfield, and the playcalling of head coach Kevin Stefanski (hey, maybe he was right about something). The subsequent trade demand was the final nail in the coffin for the few fans of his that remained.
Odell Beckham Jr. drawing interest in 2026 is hard to take seriously
Now, it's been five years, but it may as well have been a lifetime for Odell Beckham Jr. In what is perhaps the best example of a reporter doing his guy a solid, Jordan Schultz of the Schultz Report claims that after appearing in Tom Brady's Fanatics flag football game, NFL teams are showing interest in Beckham's services again.
Color us... not convinced. Beckham's tantrum got him to a preferred destination with the Los Angeles Rams back in 2021. While they did wind up winning the Super Bowl, it was a prime example of someone starting on third base. Despite attempts to rewrite history, Beckham was the fifth-leading receiver on that team. His torn ACL in the Super Bowl knocked him out for the entire 2022 season.
A 2023 return with the Ravens saw him put together another lackluster season (35 receptions, 565 yards, and three TDs). The death knell to his career came in Miami in 2024, where after nine games, nine receptions, and a paltry 55 yards, he requested his release to sign on for a more involved role elsewhere. That role was about as real as the interest in his services in 2026, and he's been out of football for a full calendar year-plus.
The Browns (and ironically the Dolphins) may have the two weakest wide receiver units in the entire NFL at this point. The chances either would re-invite Odell Beckham Jr. into their buildings? Less than zero.
Crazy things happen in the NFL all the time. I mean, the Jaguars once signed a 34-year-old minor league baseball player who hadn't played football in six years as a tight end. Even when he was a football player, he had played quarterback. Could you believe that? Well, that was Tim Tebow — and signing Odell Beckham Jr. in 2026 would have roughly the same impact — like a raincoat underwater.